Research on Poverty Reduction Strategies

Just out from Joseph Rowntree Foundtaion

 

http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/reducing-poverty-in-the-uk-evidence-reviews

 

To help build the evidence for JRF's anti-poverty strategy, we commissioned researchers to carry out reviews of existing policy and research on a wide range of social issues that are related to poverty.

The 33 studies in this collection are the findings of those reviews, and there are links to more detailed reports by the research teams, where available.

The reviews are split into five sections:

The bigger picture
Welfare and work
Money and the cost of living
Education, family and community
Complex needs

The first meeitng of the Manchester Urban Theology Forum September 11th

 

The first meeitng of the Manchester Urban Theology Forum - coming soon! http://t.co/UbUaqb4Icv

 

• A shared space for critical reflection.
• Learning from each other about faith & life in our dynamic but contested city.
• Building bridges between different faith traditions & between the community & the University
• Fostering greater understanding and more effective action for the 'common good'.

Manchester Urban Theology Forum Facebook Page

Combining action & reflection with analysis & debate.

Keynote speakers exploring issues that impacts on faith & life in Manchester – activists, social scientists & theologians.

Interactive workshops always concluding with 'ideas for action'.

  Join us for our first Workshop – 'We Believe in Manchester'

On: Thursday 11th September 2014 from 1.00pm-3.00pm

At: Room W313, Samuel Alexander Building,University of Manchester

Fw: PCC's Community Action Fund

The Police and Crime Commissioner is very keen to increase the number of applications being received for his Community Action Fund ..   See here for details

 

 

http://www.lancashire-pcc.gov.uk/Partnership/Commissioners-Community-Action-Fund/Commissioners-Community-Action-Fund.aspx

 

Listening For Life course

 

Do you want to

develop your skills

in listening to self,

God and others?

 

Then the Listening For Life course is for you.  Session titles are Catching a Vision for Listening, Growing a Heart for Listening, Deepening Compassion for Listening, Walking the Way of Listening.  

 

Saturday 4 and 11 October at St.Cuthbert's Church, Fulwood

11am – 5pm

 

For more information and a registration form contact Rev Sue Griffiths suegriffiths@mybroadbandmail.com

or 01772 774285 by 12 September

 

Salvation Army Food bank still needs your support

 

 

Good coverage again in today's LEP

 

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/appeal-gives-hanif-food-for-thought-1-6797250

Useful Information resource for VCFS groups

 

I Just come across this... may have useful pointers to managing your organisation, charity or project

 

 

 

http://knowhownonprofit.org/help/about-us/iKnowHow

The Modern Welfare State: Temple's Challenge for the Church

 

Nice blog piece on William Temple and the welfare system

http://williamtemplefoundation.org.uk/modern-welfare-state-william-temple-church/

 

  

William Temple helped to found the modern welfare state, but what would he make of it today?

 

This guest post is written by Dr Simon Duffy, Director of The Centre for Welfare Reform and policy advisor to the Campaign for a Fair Society.

FREE Financial Inclusion Conference - Salvation Army Building, Preston - 6th October

 

Subject: FREE Financial Inclusion Conference - Salvation Army Building, Preston - 6th October

Dear All

 

As part of Preston City Council's commitment to tackling financial exclusion we will be hosting a conference on Financial Inclusion to be held at the Salvation Army Building in October. The conference is aimed at public sector policy makers and practitioners, voluntary, community and faith sector representatives and Registered Social Landlords who want to help build financial resilience in Preston.

 

Financial Inclusion Conference - Developing Financial Resilience in Preston

 

6th October 2014 - 10 am to 4 pm

 

Salvation Army Building, Harrington Street, Preston PR1 7BN

 

It will explore how we can mitigate against some of the financial, social and welfare changes we are confronted by and affect the ways in which people access money and how people spend, save, budget and understand credit. 

 

The programme is attached. 

 

The conference is free but places are limited so if you would like to book use the link below as soon as possible.

 

http://prestonfinancialinclusion.eventbrite.co.uk

 

Please pass on as appropriate to your contacts.

 

Financial Inclusion Conference

 

Developing Financial Resilience in Preston

 

Programme

 

6^th October 2014 10am – 4pm

 

Salvation Army Building, Harrington Street, Preston PR1 7BN

 

9.45 am          Coffee and Registration

 

10.00 am        Chair's Introduction and Opening Remarks

Cllr Matthew Brown Cabinet Member for Social Justice,

Inclusion and Policy

 

10.15 am        The Road to Financial Resilience and Capability

                        Mick McAteer, Director, Financial Inclusion Centre

 

10:45 am        Credit Unions and Financial and Social Inclusion

                        Mike Barry, Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Credit Union

 

11.15 am        Questions

 

11.30 am        Refreshment break  

 

11.45 am        Financial Inclusion – why it matters to DWP

                        Speaker TBC

 

12.15 pm        Financial Exclusion and the Impact of Welfare Reform

                        Joanne Barker, Lancashire County Council Welfare Rights

 

12:45 pm        Questions

 

1.00pm           Lunch Break

 

2pm                Introduction to Workshops

 

2.10 pm          Workshop 1: Building financial capability and inclusion in

priority neighbourhoods: exploring the role of

the public sector

 

 

                        Workshop 2:  How faith communities, voluntary and community

groups contribute to financial inclusion and resilience in Preston

 

3.00 pm          Above workshops repeated

 

3.40pm           Plenary and Chair's closing remarks

New Bible resource

 

 

 

'Popcorn and Nachos' is a new Bible study resource on the Unlock website today using contemporary films to make connections between bible stories and everyday life. http://unlock-urban.org.uk/documents/popcornandnachos.pdf

New briefing and interactive map on family debt from Childrens society

 

We have found that nearly 2.5 million children across the countries live in families owing a total of £4.8 billion in bills and loans. By using our interactive map, you can see for the first time the extent of the impact of debt on families in your area.

 

 

http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-views/our-blog/use-our-map-reveal-extent-problem-debt-your-area

Fw: "Serious About Transformation" eNews: August 2014

 

 

---

From: Stuart Ashmore <stuart.ashmore=tearfund.org@mail68.us4.mcsv.net> on behalf of Stuart Ashmore <stuart.ashmore@tearfund.org>
Sent: 01 August 2014 08:59
To: Greg Smith
Subject: "Serious About Transformation" eNews: August 2014

 

This month: Welcome! / "Pursuing Transformation Tour 2014" / Spotlight on Legal "stuff" / Stories from the "Catalyst" programme / Bits & Pieces / "Good Neighbours" - CUF & Theos report Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. "Serious about Transformation" August 2014 Welcome! "Hello" & welcome to the August 2014 issue of "Serious About Transformation". This is our 5th issue of the eNewsletter & we hope you're finding it a useful additional resource in supporting your work - "thank you" for the very positive comments that we have received so far, they are very much appreciated, but please do let us know (via the e-mail below) if there's anything specific that you'd like to see included in future editions.  In this edition we have some breaking news about our "Pursuing Transformation Tour" and we also highlight a recent report from the Church Urban Fund & Theos about understanding the impact of local churches in deprived communities in England. To find out more about us, what we do & how we do it, just click HERE & visit us online. With many blessings, The IMPACT UK Team (e-mail us at: team.impactuk@tearfund.org)   'Pursuing Transformation Tour 2014' You'll know from previous editions of the eNews that we are planning a series of UK-wide events to support you in exploring a deeper understanding of personal, church & community transformation, enabling you to make a real & deeper difference through your life. These events begin in Belfast in the autumn, with other dates re-scheduled for early 2015 to coincide with exciting new developments with the IMPACT UK Team's vision & plans for the future. Please do sign-up at our website: www.pursuingtransformation.org.uk in order to receive regular updates as plans progress.   Spotlight on Legal "stuff"   It is essential that managers and trustees of community projects are aware of their legal obligations and to govern appropriately. Whilst the website of the Charity Commission (England & Wales or Scotland) can provide lots of good "start-up" resources, a good way to stay abreast of legal developments in the voluntary sector is to check news articles on the websites of charity lawyers & there is often an option to sign up for regular updates/briefings via e-mail. One such regular update service of which we are aware is the "Newsroom" service from Anthony Collins Solicitors. It's free to sign-up but please remember that this is general information only & NOT specific advice. Each case is different & accurate advice must be tailored to the individual case.  Find out more   Stories from the "Catalyst" Programme   Helen Sloan, General Manager of the Storehouse in North Down speaks about the impact that the foodbank has had on the local community - click on the picture above to see the video.   For more information about the "Catalyst" programme & to make an application:     Good Neighbours: How churches help communities flourish In this new piece of research, Church Urban Fund (CUF) & Theos set out to understand the impact of local churches in deprived communities in England; to explore what churches do to support people in their communities & also how & why they do it. This research project is a "critical appreciation" of what churches offer their communities - it argues that church-based activities offer both breadth of national reach & depth. It shows that: the Church in England reaches approx. 10m people each year through its community activities, even excluding "familiar" church activities - Sunday services, Christmas, Easter, Harvest, baptisms, weddings & funerals; churches reach people in a uniquely relational way, building platforms for neighbourliness & relationships to grow. Download the full report or the executive summary to read more. Bits & Pieces... From time to time we come across lots of interesting bits & pieces that may, or may not, be of interest/use to you in your own local contexts. Below are links to some of what we've come across this month: Employment Vacancy:            TLG is an education charity that partners with local churches to work with disaffected young people who are at crisis point in their education. We are looking for a qualified teacher with a passion to bring transformation to the young people we work with. If you want to see your skills and your expertise make a real difference to disaffected 11-16 year olds in Manchester, then see our TLG Manchester Centre Manager Vacancy.  Find out more External Services:  Funding Opportunities:          The Cinnamon Network knows that a small amount of money can go a long way in helping a local church start a new community project. We are delighted to be able to offer a Micro-grant programme to any local church that wants to start one of our recognised best practice projects as follows: In England: (£1,500) offered by Tearfund's IMPACT UK Team working with the Network under the Government's Social Action Fund; In Scotland: (£2,000) with the Peter Vardy Foundation; In Wales: (£2,000) with JW Laing Trust; In Sussex: (£3,000) with Sussex Police            Find out more   The Garfield Weston Foundation is a well-established, family-founded grant-making trust. They offer two grant schemes: Large Grants (over £100,000) & Regular Grants (£1,000 to £99,000). Their wide-ranging interests include community charities & groups. There are no specific priority areas but they acknowledge some common themes; those they fund are likely to be "charities that demonstrate quality & excellence with projects that have clear outcomes & benefits, good leadership & sensible business plans". Applications can be made at any time & there are no formal deadlines.            Find out more ------------------------------------------------------------------ The pros & cons of loan finance: Loan finance: are charities missing an opportunity? It is clearly not a route to be taken lightly & won't be suitable for all, but could be worth being aware of. This article, written for the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network with the help of the CAF Bank, explores the options & outlines the factors to consider.            Find out more External links are selected and reviewed when newsletter is published. However, the IMPACT UK Team is not responsible for the content of external websites. This is because: we do not produce them or maintain/update them we cannot change them they can be changed without our knowledge or agreement. Some of our external links may be to websites which also offer commercial services, such as online purchases. The inclusion of a link to an external website from this newsletter should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the site's owners (or their products/services). In This Issue Welcome! "Pursuing Transformation Tour 2014" Spotlight on Legal "stuff" Stories from the "Catalyst" programme "Good Neighbours": CUF/Theos Report Bits & Pieces Bits & Pieces... Click each heading to find out more... Employment Vacancies; External Services - incl. funding opportunities.     Keep Up With Us Twitter - IMPACT UK Team

Copyright © 2014 IMPACT UK, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive news from the SERVE website. Our mailing address is: IMPACT UK 100 Church Road Teddington, Middlesex TW11 8QE United Kingdom Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

Financial Inclusion Conference Developing Financial Resilience in Preston 6th October 2014

As part of Preston City Council's commitment to tackling financial exclusion we will be hosting a conference on Financial Inclusion to be held at the Salvation Army Building in October. The conference is aimed at public sector policy makers and practitioners, voluntary, community and faith sector representatives and Registered Social Landlords who want to help build financial resilience in Preston.

It will explore how we can mitigate against some of the financial, social and welfare changes we are confronted by and affect the ways in which people access money and how people spend, save, budget and understand credit.

Financial Inclusion Conference Developing Financial Resilience in Preston 6^{th October 2014 10am – 4pm Salvation Army Building, Harrington Street, Preston PR1 7BN}

If you would like to find out more about the conference or book a place contact Janet Bradley at ja.bradley@preston.gov.uk or telephone 01772 903429.

Useful blog on food poverty from Church of Scotland

 

 

http://cos.churchofscotland.org.uk/blogs/priority_areas/2014/08/14/food-poverty-its-time-to-get-angry/

A new blog on seeking the children of Shalom

 

 

My latest blog for William Temple Foundation

 

http://williamtemplefoundation.org.uk/searching-for-shalom-gaza-iraq-world-war-one/

Are you ready for universal credit?

Within the next few months the latest of the welfare reforms will be rolled out in the North west of England..Gradually many benefit claimants will be transferred to this new regime.  We are anticipating churches and community groups will be coming across people who need help to cope with the changes and/or who get into real finanacial difficulty over budgeting in the new regime.

 

What is Universal Credit?

Universal credit is a new benefit for people of working age, designed to top up your income to a minimum level. Universal credit will eventually replace benefits for people who are out of work and tax credits for people in work.

You can download a brief guide to the new system prepared by Ed Saville of Blackburn diocese here

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89023969/Universal%20Credit%20Briefing%20August%202014.pdf

There is more information from the money advice service here

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/categories/universal-credit?gclid=CLOarsz7jcACFfOhtAodeEMAaQ

and a briefing from CPAG here

http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/universal-credit-update

 

 

Lancashire Supporting People Consultation Events

Please circulate to groups who have received supporting people funding etc.

 

From: Whittam, Matthew [mailto:Matthew.Whittam@lancashire.gov.uk]
Sent: 08 August 2014 14:43
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Lancashire Supporting People Consultation Events
Importance: High

 

Hello,

 

As part of the proposals to reduce the Supporting People budget from 1st April 2015, the supporting people team will be holding consultation events which will offer those with an interest in housing support services the opportunity to contribute to the reconfiguration of housing support services in Lancashire.

 

The following consultation sessions have been scheduled:

 

·         Floating Support Consultation Event

Thursday 11 September (The Tudor Room, County Hall, Preston) 2pm

 

·         Older People Consultation Event

Thursday 18 September (Woodlands Conference Centre, Chorley) Times to be confirmed

 

·         Supported Lodgings Consultation Event

Thursday 26 September (Woodlands Conference Centre, Chorley) Times to be confirmed

 

 

Please keep these dates available and we will confirm the details of the events nearer the time.

 

Please could you confirm if you are planning to attend a consultation event by Wednesday  27 August 2014 (please email Wayne Roberts, and specify in the email subject line which event(s) you are planning to attend). Due to limitations on space we may need to limit the number of representatives for each organisation and therefore it would be helpful if you would list any potential representatives in order of priority.

 

If you are not able to attend the consultation events but would like to express your views about the proposals you can use the links below which will take you to the proposal reports and a link to the online consultation:

 

• Family Intervention Projects/Vulnerable Household Services http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/consultation/responses/response.asp?ID=245
• Sheltered Housing http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/consultation/responses/response.asp?ID=243
• Floating Support Service http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/consultation/responses/response.asp?ID=242
• Lancashire Supported Lodgings Schemes http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/consultation/responses/response.asp?ID=244

 

This information can also be accessed via the supporting people web site:

http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/acs/sites/supporting-people/more-details/index.asp?siteid=6448&pageid=44895&e=e

 

 Attached within the email for your information is a power point presentation detailing  the proposals for reconfiguring services and also outlining our proposal for the future use of the framework agreement.

 

 If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Supporting People Team on Tel 01772 534266.

 

 

Regards

 

 

Beverly Cartwright| Contracts Officer | Supporting People Team

+ Lancashire County Council | Adult Services, Health & Wellbeing Directorate | | Christ Church Precinct Level 1 | County  Hall Complex | Pitt Street | Preston | PR1 8XB

@ beverly.cartwright@lancashire.gov.uk

( (01772 531498 or 07584 217677

7 (01772) 530552

 

Visit our website at: http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/supportingpeople